Louis Dodds post Bolton

Shrewsbury Town fell to a frustrating 2-0 loss at home to high-flying Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

After an even first half Lee Beevers and Adam Le Fondre struck to give Bolton the three points, which saw them consolidate their position in second, while Town dropped to 20th.

Louis Dodds returned to the starting line-up after two matches on the bench, and he spoke to the press after the match.

“We huffed and puffed but never really created anything,” He said.

“First half I think we matched them and had one or two half decent chances. But then in the second half the goal killed us a little bit and we never really got going again.

“I think they played clever – after they got the goal they sat back a little bit and then used their experience well and they never looked like conceding.

“We tried to exploit their weaknesses by getting the ball down the sides of their wing-backs – it looked like it was going alright in the first half – but their goal really killed our momentum.”

The former Port Vale man had a good chance to score when the scores were level, but Bolton’s ‘keeper Ben Alnwick saved his effort well.

“I thought it was going in,” Dodds commented.

“It’s a bit of a collector’s item – being a left footed shot – I thought I had enough on it but he did well to save it and it was disappointing not to get the goal.”

Dodds is Town’s top scorer this term with ten goals in 41 league and cup appearances – despite being limited to substitute appearances in Salop’s two previous games. He spoke of being back in the starting XI.

“I enjoyed it – it’s always frustrating being stuck on the bench,” He said.

“But at this stage in the season you have to be a team player and hopefully try and use my experience to help the younger lads.

“We’re a young team – there’s a lot of inexperience there – when you’re down there you start to look over your shoulder a bit and play with a bit of fear. But we’ll look to put that right next week.”

After the defeat Shrewsbury now sit just one point above the drop zone and next up is a tricky looking trip to play off chasing Bristol Rovers.

“We know what we need to do,” Dodds said.

“The main focus is getting three points next Saturday. We can’t be too bothered about what other teams are doing just yet.

“Everyone’s scrapping for points at the moment and we’re no different – every game is a tough one in this league.”